Motorola wins sales ban on Xbox and Windows 7, but can’t enforce it

A US judge has said the ban cannot be enforced until his ruling.

Motorola Mobility has won an injunction preventing the sale of the Xbox 360 and Windows 7 from a German court.

Motorola can't enforce the injunction right away, however. Microsoft will appeal the ruling, and a US judge recently ruled that any injunction in Germany can't take effect until the related US court case is settled.

Microsoft told the BBC that the German ruling "is one step in a long process.... Motorola is prohibited from acting on today's decision, and our business in Germany will continue as usual while we appeal this decision and pursue the fundamental issue of Motorola's broken promise."

The "broken promise" Microsoft is referring to is Motorola's pledge to license standards-essential patents under so-called "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)" terms. In response to the German ruling, Motorola said "We remain open to resolving this matter. Fair compensation is all that we have been seeking for our intellectual property."